The number of Indians coming to Canada has experienced a four-fold increase since 2013, according to a new report.
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) found that highly skilled foreign nationals, including international students (especially from India), are choosing Canada over the US for immigration.
In fact, the number of Indians immigrants rose from 32,828 to 139,715 from 2013 to 2023, which is a 326 per cent increase in a 10-year span.
At the same time, international student enrolment at US universities dropped by 5.6 per cent from 2016 to 2019, even though it rose by 51.6 per cent at Canadian universities during the same period.
This is largely because it is difficult to obtain H-1B status or permanent residence in the US, while temporary status and PR are easy to acquire in Canada.
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While Canada has fast processing for most high-skilled temporary visas, the H-1B lottery rejects most applicants in the pool, causing many to return home after completing their university studies in the US.
Moreover, while Canada allows a skilled graduate to gain PR and eventual citizenship in just a few years’ time, highly skilled immigrants from India in the US often have to wait decades to even get permanent residence due to the per-country limits and low annual limit on employment-based green cards.
Trump made H-1B visas even more difficult to obtain and, according to the report, “openly discussed imposing new restrictions or eliminating Optional Practical Training for students,” which may have turned people away from US universities.
Many H-1B visa holders are also choosing to move to Canada. Last July, this was evident though Canada’s program for H-1B visa holders reaching its 10,000 cap in less than 48 hours.
The draw of Canadian universities is not just restricted to Indian international students; there was a 544 per cent increase, from 62,223 to 400,521, in the number of international students attending Canadian schools between 2000 and 2021.
This has fuelled the growth of Canadian universities, with 45 per cent of the growth in enrolment at Canadian schools being because of international students.
Indian student numbers fell by 13 per cent at US universities between 2016 and 2019. Meanwhile, they increased by 183 per cent at Canadian universities.
According to Forbes, India-Canada diplomatic tensions – along with the two-year cap on international study permits – have affected visa processing in the short term and may reduce the number of Indians obtaining study permits.
In the long term, however, these developments may not affect Indian students’ choices, as US has made no changes to its own immigration policies.
